|
 Platini, the original favorite to succeed Sepp Blatter as head of
global soccer's governing body, was not admitted because he has been
suspended for 90 days pending a full Ethics Committee investigation.
FIFA had already announced that it would not process former French
international football star while he was suspended, but could review
its position if he wins an appeal against the ban.
Buffeted by a series of scandals over the last few years, FIFA was
thrown into turmoil in May by the U.S. indictments of 14 football
officials, including two FIFA vice-presidents, and sports marketing
executives for alleged corruption.
Blatter, also suspended for 90 days, is facing criminal
investigation in Switzerland over a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.1
million) payment from FIFA to Platini. Both men have denied
wrongdoing.
FIFA's electoral committee said on Thursday the five approved
presidential candidates were Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan,
Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al
Khalifa of Bahrain, former FIFA official Jerome Champagne of France,
UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino of Switzerland and South
Africa businessman Tokyo Sexwale.
"The integrity check included a review of corporate records,
litigation cases, bankruptcy proceedings, potential regulatory
actions taken against the candidate and a review of media reports
concerning potential red flags (fraudulent behavior, match
manipulation, human rights violations, etc.)," the committee said in
a statement.
Bility was not admitted "in view of the content of the integrity
check report relating to him", it said.
"For reasons of protection of personality rights, the Ad-hoc
Electoral Committee – while it has explained its considerations in
detail to Musa Hassan Bility – will not comment publicly on the
specifics of its decision."
Salman has dismissed as "false, nasty lies" allegations that he was
involved in human rights abuses against pro-democracy activists
during a 2011 uprising in Bahrain when he was head of the Gulf Arab
country's football association.
The electoral committee said it had "assessed any allegations
against the candidates carefully, including those against Sheikh
Salman concerning his alleged involvement into the events in Bahrain
in 2011".
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It said no evidence of "any personal and direct involvement" by
Salman in rights abuses had been found, so the committee had upheld
his candidacy.
There are no clear favorites to win the election, in which each of
the 209 national associations (FAs) who are affiliated with FIFA
hold one vote.
Critics say they are heavily influenced by the continental
confederations, such as Europe's UEFA or Africa's CAF, which
sometimes ask their members to vote as a bloc for one candidate. But
as voting is secret, FAs can easily disobey their confederations
without being detected, which makes voting unpredictable.
Infantino announced his intention to stand only one day before the
registration deadline in October, and is expected to withdraw if
Platini is allowed back into the race.
Last month, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, one of the top
powerbrokers in global sport and a member of FIFA's executive
committee, said he hoped there would be "coordination" between
Infantino and Sheikh Salman if Platini was unable to run.
Champagne has alleged that already in this election "there is a
pre-campaign of arrangements in five-star hotels behind closed
doors". He was alluding to alleged back-room deals in which certain
candidates do not run against each other and one then drops out to
clear the way for the other to win.
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne;
Editing by Michael Shields and Mark Heinrich)
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